Argentina's Lower House Will Debate Its Controversial YPF Expropriation Bill On May 3

Argentina's lower house is expected to debate the
YPF expropriation bill drafted by its president Cristina
Fernandez de Kirchner on May 3, and the bill is expected to pass
by a wide margin, according to the Buenos Aires Herald.

The Senate will vote on the bill this Wednesday, and the lower
house is expected to begin mulling over it right after.

Argentina hopes to expropriate 51 percent of Repsol's 57.43
percent stake in YPF, has refused to pay what Repsol is asking
for, and has faced tremendous international backlash for its
move. Many of YPF's board of directors were forced to leave last
week soon after the president made her announcement, and were
replaced by government representatives.

"We are not challenging Argentina’s right to bet on the
sovereignty of its energy resources, which for me and being in
the 21st century is an error, but we challenge the fact of they
expropriating a company without paying to its shareholders.”

Shares of YPF are down 3 percent in pre-market trading and are
down nearly 58 percent year-to-date.